Environmentally friendly choices take flooring options to a new level

Saturday

Nov 22, 2008 at 12:01 AMNov 22, 2008 at 10:00 PM

Treading lightly on Mother Earth can extend to the flooring you select, thanks to a growing number of green options. Conscientious consumers can find bamboo grasses that act like hardwood, or carpeting sprouted from corn. And organizations that certify planet-friendly forestry practices track lumber from the spot it was harvested all the way to the retail shop.

Renee Tomell

Treading lightly on Mother Earth can extend to the flooring you select, thanks to a growing number of green options. Conscientious consumers can find bamboo grasses that act like hardwood, or carpeting sprouted from corn. And organizations that certify planet-friendly forestry practices track lumber from the spot it was harvested all the way to the retail shop.

Among the flooring trends is cork, which provides a resilient, pliant surface, and whose harvesting actually is necessary to the tree’s life cycle.

“The bark has to be stripped about every eight years or the tree will die,” said Lisa Maher, design and sales consultant with Carlson’s Fine Rugs and Floorcoverings in Geneva, Ill. She said cork trees keep producing to age 200 or older.

Hardwood trees have their own defenders. To help counter the damage that logging can cause around the world, the international Forest Stewardship Council (www.fscus.org) was founded in 1993, one of a group of certification agencies.

“It allows the consumer to differentiate between good forestry practices and bad forestry practices in their purchase,” said Karen Steer, a representative of FSC US in Minnesota. “When you select (an FSC-certified product), you are choosing forestry that promotes habitat protection, clean air and water, climate change mitigation and protection of local communities and indigenous rights.”

She said more and more companies are coming on board in this voluntary, market-based initiative that encompasses dimensional lumber used in construction.

“The key is to reduce ultimately not only the cost of continually remaking a product like fiber, (but to) no longer depend on making new every one of the components each time and depleting world resources,” Lieberman said.

Shaw’s Anso nylon fiber brand was engineered to be recycled again and again, he explained of the petroleum-based product, noting that one of the most popular eco-alternatives is Mohawk’s polyester carpeting made with Sorona fiber developed by DuPont.

“In Mohawk’s case, they are moving more in the direction of renewably resourced carpet,” he said. “Sorona is derived, in part, from corn.”

He said the process also ended up improving the characteristics of polyester, normally a less well-wearing carpet fiber more susceptible to surface abrasion and foot traffic. The advantage to polyester is that it is much more stain resistant to begin with, Lieberman said. The Sorona fiber at a molecular level mimics the resilience of wool with its hinge-like springiness, causing the fiber to better retain its shape.

“It’s extremely soft to the touch, very durable and perhaps the most stain resistant of all fibers,” Lieberman said, noting it uses less petrochemicals than nylon, is recyclable and can be made from recycled, plastic soda bottles.

To date, carpet recycling plants are operating on a trial basis in only a few parts of the United States, he said.

In narrowing down flooring options, health concerns such as asthma and allergies can guide a family’s decisions.

“We recommend smooth-surface floors like tile, linoleum and wood, because your carpets are more of a problem in harboring dust (and mites) and allergy-causing particles,” said Matt Marcum, environmental programs coordinator for the American Lung Association of Illinois.

If using carpet, he said a low-pile style is preferable, but cautions against placing rugs in entryways or anywhere that moisture can cause mold to develop.

Among types of smooth-surface floors, linoleum is an old fashioned option enjoying a resurgence. Biodegradable, it is made of renewable resources including linseed oil, rosin, cork dust and wood flour pressed into a jute backing, according to www.demesne.info, which notes it emits much lower levels of contaminants than vinyl when installed using a low-VOC (volatile organic compound) adhesive.

Newly available are cork-backed click tiles of linoleum that snap together.

Environmentally savvy consumers need to do their health homework when picking flooring, making sure the products and any adhesives won’t emit harmful levels of VOC gas inside the home. One resource is The Carpet and Rug Institute Green Label rating system at www.carpet-rug.org.

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